We're one and the same
by glistening moon
Summary: Michael AU: Jeff stands against what the Warblers and Sebastian did to Blaine, causing problems with his and Nick's relationship and Jeff's friendship with the Warblers.


_**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or anything you may recognise in this.**_

* * *

Jeff walked in a sort of daze; nothing really made any sense because what just happened didn't seem possible. Noticing something tugging on his arm Jeff realised that Nick was pulling him forward, trying to keep him from stopping in the car park, they had nearly reached the exit, the agonised cries of Blaine still echoed around them. Jeff noticed the other Warblers, they all looked sad and guilty, but none of them looked shocked. It was almost as if they were expecting that there was going to be a slushy… _They knew._

Jeff stopped and stared in horror at his teammates who had kept on walking, and then at Nick who looked even guiltier than them. _Nick knew about the slushy. God… he passed the slushy to Sebastian! He was a part of this!_

"Why would you do this?" Jeff heard himself whisper to Nick, the other Warblers had noticed the couple stop and had heard the whisper, most of them looked ashamed of themselves, except Sebastian; his face was perfectly blank.

Nick looked distraught, "Jeff… I… It was never meant to hit _him_. I swear."

Jeff felt the shock pass and anger take its place, it flooded his veins, warming his blood with fiery rage, "That's meant to make it better?! Who was it meant to hit then?!"

Nick mumbled something, looking down at his feet. Jeff had never seen him look so ashamed of himself.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Say that again." Jeff ordered, his hands were balled into fists and his knuckles were white with fury.

Nick looked up at him with tears in his eyes and Jeff felt his anger dull slightly, that was until he heard Nick whisper, "It was for Kurt."

Jeff looked at the Warblers in disgust, "I can't believe all of you. Kurt was our _friend_ and so was Blaine."

"They're not your friends anymore Sterling," Sebastian spoke up, his voice was clear and his face still an emotionless mask, "They left you. And let's face it, who wouldn't leave you?"

Jeff felt his insecurities start to play up but forced them away, "Just because they're at a different school doesn't mean they're not my friends. And what happened to 'Once a Warbler, always a Warbler' Smythe? Did you realise that Blaine has standards? That he wasn't going to let a slut like you into his pants?"

Sebastian strolled forward until he was right in front of Jeff, they both stood tall, with Sebastian only being only a few centimetres taller, "Now you listen to me Sterling, the only reason you're still on the Warblers is because your boyfriend," Sebastian's eyes flittered to Nick for a moment, who still stood beside them holding back tears, "thinks that if I do kick you out you'll do something stupid like try to kill yourself again, you suicidal freak. If I didn't want to do Duval you'd have been kicked off the Warblers long ago."

Before Jeff even realised what he was doing he had swung a punch at Sebastian, landing it right on the side of his jaw. Sebastian didn't seem shocked though, and swung one right back at Jeff, hitting him square in his left cheek. Jeff stumbled back, his hand and face throbbing. Other Warblers had surrounded them and David and Thad were holding Sebastian back, Nick was tugging on his arm again and was trying to pull him towards the exit; away from Blaine's quiet sobs, away from the New Directions who were probably staring at them.

"I quit, I don't want to be a part of the Warblers if this is what it's come to." Jeff spoke to Sebastian, who only smirked in response.

A few of the Warblers made noises of protest, but none of them were as clear as Nicks, "Jeff, please don't do this."

"Let's go." Sebastian commanded, all of the Warblers except Nick shuffling out with him.

Jeff looked at his boyfriend who was refusing to meet his eyes, "Nicky, I love you, but this isn't you. You're not the Nick I fell in love with."

Nick let out a sob, "I'm so sorry."

Jeff looked down at his hands, shutting his eyes firmly so he wouldn't have to look at Nick as he said it, "Just go Nick, go join Sebastian and keep being a jerk with the Warblers."

"Jeff please-"

"No Nick. I can't- I can't even look at you right now without wanting to punch you in the face." Jeff said as he opened his eyes, a few tears escaping.

Nick let out another sob, more tears streamed down his cheeks, "Jeffie… He'll leave without you-"

"I don't care."

"You'll have to walk-"

"I don't care."

"Jeff please!"

"I don't care Nick! I'd rather walk back to Westerville than be anywhere near that man-whore! Just go to Sebastian and get a ride back to Dalton or you'll have to walk too!"

Nick looked at Jeff desperately, "I don't want to leave you."

"Nick," Jeff sighed angrily, "Nick, just go before I do something stupid like break up with you."

Nick nodded shakily and ran out of the car park; probably half wishing that Sebastian and the other Warblers had already left so he had an excuse to stay with Jeff. Jeff wiped his face, accidently pressing down on his left cheek made it throb even more, but he ignored that and turned and walked back to where the New Directions crowded around Blaine.

They all looked at him pityingly, they had obviously seen what had happened; they knew he wasn't aware of Sebastian's plan. Kurt cradled Blaine against him as he caught Jeff's eyes; he looked relieved; probably glad that not all of his Dalton friends had betrayed him. Jeff wondered if Blaine would also be slightly relieved, but realised that no, Blaine would feel the betrayal far more intensely than Kurt did.

"We're going to take him to the hospital now," The brunette cheerleader informed him, "Do you want to come?"

Jeff thought for a second, but realised that the hospital was even further away from Dalton than this car park. "No," Jeff said, shaking his head, "You're all closer to Blaine than I am now, I think he would probably rather you guys around him."

A few of the group nodded, the boy in the wheelchair rolled over to him, "Blaine will appreciate you standing up against Sebastian, so thanks."

Jeff nodded slowly, "Can you guys tell him how sorry I am?"

"I know, Jeffie," Blaine croaked out, his eyes were still clamped shut and red dye and half melted ice still covered him, but he reached out towards Jeff, as if searching for his hand.

The New Directions all gasped when Blaine spoke, clearly expecting him to be in too much pain to do anything (_if the shock and confusion of Blaine's screaming was any indication, this wasn't a usual reaction to being slushied, so they probably didn't know what to expect,_ Jeff reasoned silently.). As Jeff grabbed Blaine's hand, the New Directions fired questions at Blaine, "Are you okay?" "Does it still hurt?" "How much does it hurt?" "Should we take you to the hospital?", Blaine didn't answer any of them, instead he pulled Jeff closer and mumbled out, "Dalton's a long way from here. You should start walking."

If it were anyone other than Blaine who had said that Jeff thought it probably would have sounded quite threatening, but coming from him… _He still looks out for me even when he is seriously injured._

"I know Blainey," Jeff muttered back to him before letting go of his hand after one last squeeze. Jeff looked at the mismatched group in front of him, each of them were completely different from the last, yet they seemed stronger and more closely knit than any group of friends Jeff had ever seen. It seemed to vastly contrast what the Warblers had become; a mess that uses violence and deceit to fight it's battles, rather than a unified force that overcame such battles with raw talent and acceptance.

"Would someone be able to let me know if Blaine's okay after you take him to hospital?" Jeff asked the group at large, hoping that at least one of them would be kind enough to do so.

"Yeah sure," The tall one said, passing his phone to Jeff, "Just put your number in dude."

Quickly adding his number into the phone Jeff tried to recall the guys name, he was fairly certain that this was Finn, Kurt's step brother, but he wasn't totally certain, "Thanks," Jeff passed the guys phone back to him, "Blaine's right, it's going to be like a four hour walk. So I should get going now."

As he waved goodbye to them he noticed them all manoeuvre into position to move Blaine to a car so they could drive him to the hospital. Jeff ran a hand through his hair and sighed once again, _how the hell did today get so messed up?_

The four hour walk turned out to be five and a half hours after Jeff took a wrong turn and was actually walking the wrong way for 20 minutes, and he took a 10 minute break about two hours in after he realised how thirsty he was. Not to mention how slow he was walking when he started crying about 30 minutes in.

It was just past 9:30pm when Jeff made it back to the school, the guard gave him a look of confusion as to why he was coming back so late, but since he wasn't past curfew he didn't get into trouble. Jeff was exhausted, thirsty, hungry and in pain when he finally made it back to him dorm. He didn't even greet his questioning roommate as he stumbled into the bathroom, stripping off his blazer and shoes faster than he realised was possible.

His feet were now covered in blisters, his hand and face had bruised nicely thanks to the brief fight with Sebastian, and the lukewarm water of the bathroom tap had never been so delicious. Jeff showered quickly, finding it difficult to stay standing for so long and surmising that he'll probably collapse from exhaustion soon. His grumbling stomach reminded Jeff that he had missed dinner and that it was probably too late to scrounge any leftovers from the kitchen.

When he came out of the bathroom in only a towel to get his pyjamas his roommate, Brian, looked at him worriedly, but Jeff ignored it, grabbing his pants and a fresh pair of underwear he stumbled back into the bathroom, hoping that Brian wouldn't have too many questions as to why he came back hours later than the rest of the Warblers with a bruised hand and face. Not to mention the fact that Jeff was fairly certain his eyes were red and puffy from the crying.

Brian did ask him a few questions when Jeff finally left the bathroom, dumping his uniform in a pile on the floor rather than fold it or hang it up like he usually did. Instead of the detailed responses that Brian clearly craved, Jeff crawled into bed mumbling a few useless words as answers to the multiple questions; but he was asleep before Brian even decided to turn off the light.

* * *

Jeff groaned as he woke up from the pain in his stomach, a quick glance to his phone told him that it was barely 6am and that he had 17 messages. Jeff stared at his phone in interest, who would send him so many messages so early in the morning?

Jeff checked the times on the messages, they were all sent the night before, 16 from Nick and another from an unknown number. Deciding to read the unknown number text first, Jeff realised that it was from Finn and that it was an update on Blaine.

**Blaines gonna need sergery cos the slushy hurt his cornear or something –Finn**

Jeff cringed slightly at the bad spelling and grammar, and felt his heart sink at the message. _Blaine needed surgery. _Shaking his head sadly, Jeff checked the messages from Nick:

**As soon as I get back to Dalton I'll drive and pick you up. Just let me know where you are okay? Xx**

**I'm nearly at Dalton now, where are you? Xx**

**Okay, at Dalton, where are you? Xx**

**Jeff seriously, where are you? Xx**

**I get that you're mad at me but please, where are you? Xx**

**Jeff, it's almost dinnertime now, I know you're going to be hungry. Please, tell me where you are!**

**Okay, I'm getting pretty worried now. Are you okay? Where are you?**

The next 8 messages were similar, each getting more and more panicked and the time shorter between each. The exception was the last one, which was sent at 8:54pm. It seemed more like he had accepted that Jeff wasn't going to reply.

**Jeff please come back soon, it's almost 9 now and I'm really worried. I'm so sorry about today. I love you. Xx**

A grumbling noise came from Jeff's stomach brought Jeff out of his thoughts about Nick and reminded Jeff as to why he had woken up to begin with; he was _really_ hungry. Jeff arose from his bed quietly, padding into the bathroom on his feet lightly caused Jeff more pain than he expected and he barely managed to hold in a moan. Thankfully, the bathroom floor was cool and soothed his aching feet, however after glancing at himself in the mirror the soothing sensation was overtaken by dread when he realised how prominent the bruise on his face was. It covered his some of his cheek and went just below his eye; it was of a grey hue, in the centre however it was more of a dark purple colour. _Oh dear lord that's obvious._

Jeff decided he would ignore it for now, it was unlikely anyone would be awake this early on a Thursday morning anyway because Thursday was the one day of the week where class started at 9:30, rather than 8:30, so he would deal with it later; for now, he would go find some food.

Getting food so early on a Thursday morning proved to be harder than it looked, dressed only in his pyjama pants, an old shirt of Nicks and a pair of socks, Jeff felt nervous to enter the kitchens when it was clear that the kitchen staff had only just started cooking breakfast. After loitering outside the kitchen for almost five minutes, Jeff decided his grumbling stomach was more important than his embarrassment and knocked on the door.

A woman by the name of Julia answered, she was large, had greying hair and her eyes were shielded by a pair of thick glasses, however, she was probably the gentlest and friendliest staff member at all of Dalton, and she kindly invited him inside.

She didn't ask any questions, not even when the other cooks sent him curious looks, she just put two pieces of bread in the toaster and passed him some jam, a knife and a juice box. The toast didn't take long, and as soon as it had burst from the toaster, she handed them to Jeff on a plate and shooed him from the room; he barely had time to say thanks.

The cafeteria was empty and it seemed ominous without all of the boisterous teenage boys eating at the same time he did. The toast was delicious and with his hunger sedated, Jeff could try and analyse what had happened yesterday. He'd had a lot of time to analyse the event yesterday when he was walking back to Dalton, but even so, he didn't think he would ever truly understand why Sebastian had done it, nor why the Warblers had sided with him.

Jeff left his plate in the "dirty dishes" section and put his empty juice box in the bin on his way out, the kitchen staff gave him an odd look again, and Jeff wondered how many of those he was going to get today.

It was about 6:30 when Jeff got back to his room, a few early risers had started to move about, but none had seemed to leave their dorms quite yet, instead choosing to stay in the warmth of their covers. It came as a bit of a shock when Jeff found Nick waiting outside his door, curled in a ball trying to keep warm while still clearly waiting with a purpose.

"Nicky…" Jeff breathed out, barely aware of what he was doing.

Nick looked up in shock, obviously expecting Jeff to come from his room, not the hallway, "Jeff… I didn't realise you weren't in your room… I just came, umm, to make sure you got back okay after yesterday."

Jeff nodded, having trouble finding words to use to express what he wanted to say, "Come on… Let's go talk somewhere else." _Maybe I can figure out what I'm doing while we're walking._

Nick hurried after Jeff as quietly as possible, hoping not to wake up any of the other sleeping students on this floor of the dorms.

They reached the cafeteria not long after, it now had a few students eating breakfast and drinking coffee, they were scattered throughout the room, still bleary eyed and sleepy. Jeff grabbed Nick's arm and pulled him to the corner furthest away from them.

"Nick, I'm going to say something now and I want you to listen and not interrupt me, okay?" Nick nodded and Jeff took a deep breath, "I love you, but what you helped do really scares me because there is clearly a side to you that I don't know. I'm not ready to quit this, because I've never felt as stronger towards someone as I do towards you, but I can't do this right now."

Noticing that Jeff had stopped, Nick spoke up, "Are you saying we should… take a break?"

Jeff nodded sadly, "Not- not like one of those movie 'take a break' things where we go and date other people for a month or something like that. But like, I need to figure out if I can forgive you for doing that to Blaine and Kurt."

Jeff watched as Nick's face crumpled, he was clearly trying to hold in some strong emotions, but wasn't managing. Jeff felt his heart break and almost forgave Nick there and then, but he didn't say anything, maybe later he would.

Nick took a deep breath and spoke, Jeff was surprised that his voice didn't waver, "Have you had breakfast yet?"

Jeff nodded, surprised at the question, "Yeah, but… Sorry, I took over this conversation. Do you… do you need to say anything?"

Nick nodded, "G-good point. Umm. I've already said it so many times now, but Jeff… I am so sorry. I never thought it would hurt him like that. And… I'm sorry that I didn't stop it from happening, even though I knew about what Kurt went through at McKinley."

Jeff looked into Nick's deep brown eyes and knew that he was sincere; he knew that if it were possible Nick would go back in time and stop the whole thing from happening. Jeff smiled at Nick in contentment; they would be okay, it was just a fight, all couples had them; they could bounce back from this.

"Nicky, go eat breakfast, I'm going to go get ready for school," Jeff said as he stood up, Nick copied his action but walked off in the direction to where food was being served, while Jeff headed towards his dorm again so he could get ready for class and finish off the homework he wasn't able to do the previous night.

The day was long and tiring, many people inquired after why Jeff was bruised, why he had quit the Warblers (the news spread around surprisingly fast, clearly teenage boys were bigger gossips than most people thought), and why he was fighting with Nick. The last one hurt the most because as much as he didn't want to; he had already forgiven him.

By the end of classes, Jeff had already decided that he was going to get Nick back the next time he saw him, which, coincidently, was just as Nick walked out of his French class with Sebastian and Trent.

Trent looked at him in pity, but didn't say anything, and Sebastian sent him an extremely dirty look while Jeff could see foundation on his face hiding the bruise; Jeff didn't bother to hold back a smirk at that. Nick sent him a longing look that with slightly bloodshot eyes, had Jeff still been unsure about Nick, that would have made the decision for him.

"Nick, we need to talk, could you…" Jeff said, gesturing off to a corridor as Nick nodded and Sebastian muttered something Nick who rolled his eyes, but nodded to him.

Once they were alone Jeff couldn't hold himself back, he shoved Nick to a wall and then they were suddenly kissing. The surprise that Nick had at his actions clearly fading the moment Jeff's lips pressed against his. Their lips moved as one; fitting together perfectly. When they finally surfaced for oxygen they were both panting and struggling to gather a supply of air.

"Yep, a lot of talking…" Nick said breathlessly.

Jeff let out a laugh and smiled, "Taking a break is a stupid idea when I only want you."

Nick's smile was blinding, "I only want you as well."

Jeff leaned forward and buried his face in Nick's hair, enjoying the scent of his raspberry shampoo. "You smell nice."

"Thanks Jeffie," Nick laughed quietly.

Nick moved his head and Jeff felt Nicks soft lips slowly kissing along his jawline until he reached Jeff's ear lobe, which he very lightly bit, causing Jeff to shudder.

"Nicky, we're in a corridor," Jeff said quietly, letting out a soft gasp as Nick moved down from his ear to his neck, "We- we should move somewhere else."

Nick hmmm-ed in response, but kept his face buried in Jeff's neck, occasionally kissing or biting softly at his skin, "You're right. But my room, 'cause Caleb is sick and is staying at his house."

Jeff felt a sigh of disappointment escape him as Nick moved away from him and grabbed his hand instead.

"Why are the dorms so far away?" Jeff whined as they strolled quickly towards Nick's room, occasionally seeing a person who would roll their eyes at them, clearly not even fazed that two horny boys were making their way towards the dorms.

By the time they arrived at Nick's room Jeff had already removed both his and Nick's ties, and both he and Nick were sporting brand new hickeys on their necks, Jeff having a significant amount more than Nick.

* * *

The introduction of Queen's "_Death on Two Legs_" started playing, interrupting the soft grunts and moans that the two sweaty boys were making where they were interlocked on the bed. Jeff let out a louder groan when he realised which person Nick had set for that ringtone.

"He's going to keep calling if I don't pick up." Nick said to Jeff, who was positioned under him in a way that could not have been comfortable.

Jeff let out a sigh and nodded, his hair plastered to his forehead in sweat. A low whine escaped him as he felt Nick pull out and get off the bed. Jeff took advantage of the fact that Nick was facing away from him as he walked to wear his pants had been left of the other side of the room and watched the way that Nicks muscles in his back moved as he walked and bent down to get the phone.

"Hello Sebastian," Nick answered calmly, as if he hadn't just been interrupted having sex with his boyfriend.

As Nick moved back towards the bed, and put his mobile on 'speaker' so Jeff could hear what Sebastian was saying, _"…waiting for you. How far away are you?"_

Nick froze, "Oh. I-I, well, I might have forgotten about that. And umm…"

"_Nick, I reminded you just before you walked off with Sterling! How could you have forgotten so fast?" _

A blush rose on Nick's cheeks, "Well you see…"

"You're kind of interrupting something that we're both very keen to get back to. Could we perhaps move this conversation along?" Jeff cut in, not caring about being rude to Sebastian.

A laugh sounded over the phone, "_Did I interrupt you having sex?" _

Nick flushed an even darker shade of red, "U-um. Well, yes. A bit."

Jeff and Sebastian laughed and said simultaneously, _"A bit?"_

Jeff shook his head in disbelief with a smile as Sebastian spoke again, "_I'm having trouble staying mad at you Nick, in fact; I'm almost proud to know that you're missing the Warbler meet up for sex. It's something I would do so I can't blame you. But make sure you don't do it again, or I will come and find you then drag you to the Warblers meeting, clothed or not."_

Nick nodded furiously, "Of course!"

Jeff rolled his eyes at Nick, he was always so quick to follow instructions, "Hey Smythe, you know if you weren't such a jerk all the time we would have let you join us."

There was a choking sound coming from the other end of the phone, "_I-I, what? Seriously? I'll be right there-"_

"No," Jeff cut in, "You've been the biggest dick-head in the universe and have lost our trust. I said 'would have', as in past tense. Sort out your act and regain our trust, and we might reconsider it again."

Nick nodded and said, "We've spoken about his before and actually planned to ask yesterday night, but you screwed everything up."

"Yeah," Jeff said, "Even if you are a slut, you're bound to be good in bed."

There was silence on the other side of the phone, "_Okay. Well, have fun then, don't do anything I wouldn't do."_

They could practically see Sebastian smirk before hanging up.

There was silence for a moment before Nick's phone was being tossed to the carpeted floor and Nick was once again on top of Jeff, their lips locked and their tongues battling for dominance.

* * *

The news of what transpired at the Warbler meet up reached Jeff and Nick later that night when the Warblers returned to Dalton. Both Nick and Jeff felt outraged that Sebastian did it again, but even angrier with the other Warblers, who had stood by, once again allowing it to happen. Trent, the only other Warbler who would look them in the eye, informed them of what Sebastian admitted before slushying Santana, the brunette cheerleader.

"Listen," Trent said quietly to them after telling them about the rock salt. "I think the other Warblers are getting sick of Sebastian too. I overheard a few of them saying that they were thinking of quitting because they don't like how Sebastian had taken over."

Jeff frowned and shook his head, "No, this isn't right. Everyone needs to stay in the Warblers."

"What!" Nick asked, completely stunned, "Why?"

"So," Jeff took a breath, trying to word what he was thinking. "So he can learn that the Warblers don't deal with crap like that. Just… stay with the Warblers until Regionals, don't quit unless you lose."

Both Nick and Trent were silent, pondering what Jeff had suggested before. Trent spoke up, "That's probably a good idea. He won't have a mental breakdown and kill someone this way."

Jeff laughed while Nick sniggered.

Friday and the weekend passed quickly for Jeff, swapping between doing homework, dance practice, sleeping and hanging out with Nick made the weekend quite pleasant and even though he avoided all of the Warblers, he managed to talk to a few of the New Directions, and after speaking to Kurt, he was invited to perform with them on the Monday afternoon.

Jeff was quite nervous about that, he knew that they wouldn't be angry with him, since they had invited him after all, but he knew that the Warblers would see it as a huge betrayal and it would destroy any chance of him re-joining.

_Do I really want to though? I mean yes, the Warblers are my best friends, I love to sing and dance, occasionally I'm allowed to audition for a solo, and I get to be on stage and perform. But, Sebastian… Oh this is stupid. I'll re-join if I can and then I'll kick him in the crotch next time he decides to be his smirky douchebag self._

Monday came around far too quickly for Jeff's liking, not only because Mondays sucked (Math and then Chemistry first. Seriously, what the hell?) but because he knew that standing by Kurt and Blaine, he was betraying his other friends.

The time came for Jeff to leave Dalton and Jeff found himself giving Nick a fleeting kiss before making his way to his car so he could start the two-hour drive to McKinley.

The drive was too long for Jeff, who generally got fidgety after a 20 minutes and as soon as he exited the car he found that he was stiff and feeling lethargic. Which was not the best way to be feeling since he was about to be practically turning his back on his friends. _Is it really turning my back? I mean they turned their backs on Kurt and Blaine first…_

Jeff found that McKinley High School gave him nothing but bad memories as he saw the similar hallways and lockers. It was different from his old high school, but similar enough to give him chills and make him want to turn his back and run.

"Jeff!" A voice called from the other end of the corridor.

Jeff turned and sighed in relief when he saw Kurt, "Hey Kurt. How are you going?"

Kurt swallowed thickly, "I'm okay. We're heading towards the auditorium now to practice it once over before the Warblers and Sebastian get here."

Jeff wondered if Kurt realised that he separated Sebastian from the Warblers, but decided not to comment on it. It was probably some subconscious effort to not feel betrayed about the Warblers going against everything they ever stood for.

Jeff found that the New Directions were way more accepting than he had imagined. Finn came over and patted him on the back, thanking him for coming, as did the guy with the Mohawk who said his name was Puck. An Asian couple came over and introduced themselves as Mike and Tina. Tina hugged him and then they walked off. Kurt was with a short girl who Jeff knew was Rachel and a dark skinned girl who Kurt said was Mercedes. The two cheerleaders came over with Quinn, who he had the mock fight scene with in 'Bad' and they all hugged him, thanking him for standing by Blaine. Artie, Rory and Sam had managed to pull him into their conversation before Kurt gathered the group together and they ran through 'Black and White'.

Even though they were working together very briefly, Jeff found that the New Directions acted like a family, it wasn't the disorganised group that it appeared on the outside, but a strong cluster of misfits that combined were a force to be reckoned with. Jeff found himself wistfully wishing that Wes would come back from college to fix things; he would have made the Warblers work as a well-oiled machine that despite being boring sometimes, had strong morals and values.

"We don't have enough time to run through it again," Rachel said to the group, "So we're going to have to wait until they arrive. Until then, I suggest you rest your vocal chords and run through some more stretches."

Nobody listened to her so she went over to Finn, chatting to him about something. Jeff looked around to see that they had all clustered off together, clearly having their own little cliques within the group, so that he was left feeling quite lonely. Until Kurt, Santana, Quinn and Brittany came and joined him, probably feeling sorry for him.

"Hey Blondie, we're trying to think of more reasons why Meerkat Face would put rock salt in the slushy to begin with. Got any ideas?" Santana asked.

Jeff frowned when an idea struck him, "Maybe he thought Kurt was a demon or a ghost."

There was some silence after he said that, which made his face flush in embarrassment.

"Wait," Kurt said, looking at Jeff suspiciously, "Did you just say what I think you said?"

Jeff looked at Kurt wide eyed, "I don't know, I can't read your mind. But I said that maybe he thought you were a demon or a ghost. Since, you know. You use rock salt to fight demons and ghosts."

They all stared at him in wonder except Brittany who nodded and said, "That's what I thought."

Kurt shook his head slightly before looking at Jeff fondly, "Oh Jeff, I've missed you."

Jeff grinned at him, "I've missed you too! It's not the same without you helping me make sure my outfit doesn't clash. Nicky keeps trying to help, but apparently I still suck at it."

Santana smirked slightly, "Judging from your neck and that you go to an all boys school, I'd say that's not the only thing you suck at."

The others laughed while Jeff felt himself go bright red and said as confidently as possible, "Actually I'm quite good at that."

They all laughed boisterously except Quinn, whose laugh seemed quite strained, and Kurt who had smothered giggles while shaking his head furiously, whispering to himself, "_God, the images"_.

It was at this moment when the Warblers walked in, Sebastian leading the way and saying some disparaging comment about McKinley. All of them except Nick looked shocked to see Jeff standing with the New Directions, many giving him looks of betrayal while others, like Trent, David and Thad, gave him looks of awe, as if they wished they could be up on the stage supporting the New Directions instead.

The Warblers all sat down and Jeff felt another pang of longing to go and join them, to change out of his jeans and shirt into his Dalton uniform. He caught Nick's gaze, his eyes were welling with tears, but they were crinkled with a smile; _he was happy, _Jeff assumed. _Happy for me? Happy that I'm standing up for what I believe in? I haven't done that before, other than in the car park. Maybe he's proud? I hope he's proud. _

So caught up in his ponderings, Jeff missed what the New Directions had to say, but they had gone over what they were going to tell The Warblers anyway, so Jeff didn't think it was very important.

As the music started Jeff felt a weight leave his shoulders; everything was going to be okay now. They could fix this.

**_Epilogue:_**

It took a week for Sebastian to finally give up and apologize to Jeff, allowing him back into the Warblers. Nick, David, Thad and Trent had apparently threatened to quit if he didn't let Jeff back in, claiming that "Jeff brought out the best in people, but somehow you brought out the best and worst in him.". Jeff considered that statement, and found that he agreed; Sebastian angered Jeff enough to finally stand up for what he believed in, while also unleashing the wrath that he kept under control.

Nick and Jeff decided they would wait until after Regionals to see if they felt like they could trust Sebastian enough for a threesome. They weren't totally sure it would be a good idea, but they were curious as to how it would turn out.

Blaine still felt betrayed by the Warblers and refused to speak with them, however Jeff convinced him to at least allow Nick, Trent, David and Thad to apologize in person.

The New Directions occasionally invited Jeff out for group events, claiming that they wanted to know Blaine's "only good Dalton friend". Kurt even invited him for sleepovers and shopping trips (which Jeff only went on once and never again).

Nick and Trent wrote up a rule book for Sebastian that told him how to act in order to gain the group's forgiveness, which he followed most of the time, much to the shock of the Warblers. (Except for Nick and Jeff, as Nick had written at the back of the book '_Behave and you might get to join in – JS & ND' _apparently the chance of a threesome convinced him to be classy.

* * *

_**AN. **_

_**I want to apologize for this. Back in April when I started and wrote the majority of this, I thought it was actually written okay. But reading over it now… it's pretty terrible. And the ending is awful. Sorry.**_

_**Thankyou if you did read this, and thank you even more if you review!**_


End file.
